Gary Sanchez, the Yankees’ top catching prospect, is headed for the minor league disabled list.

Sanchez, 23, was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of his right thumb. The problem was uncovered with X-rays taken after Sanchez arrived at Yankee Stadium. He left a game for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre against Louisville Tuesday night when hit by a foul tip.

Sanchez will undergo more X-rays in two weeks and be reevaluated.

Sanchez was promoted from SWB on May 13 and went 0-for-4 in his first big league start. He was returned to SWB the following day.

In 34 games for the RailRiders, Sanchez is hitting .290 (40-for-138) with six homers, 26 RBIs and a .862 OPS.

With the amount of attention heaped on Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman for their ability to notch strikeouts with high-powered heat and protect leads, it’s easy to overlook another Yankees reliever having a solid season.

Kirby Yates doesn’t have the electric stuff belonging to the Holy Trinity of Smoke but he has been very effective pitching in front of the three best late-inning relievers in baseball.

“He has been real good and consistent,” pitching coach Larry Rothschild said of the 29-year-old right-hander, who was purchased from the Indians in January for $75,000 and is making $512,000 this season.
“He has picked up important innings for us.”

Yates is 2-0 with a 1.96 ERA in 18 games. He allowed 12 hits and fanned 20 in 18 ¹/₃ innings. Hitters were batting an anemic .185 against Yates. Left-handed batters were at .182 (4-for-22) and right-handed hitters were batting .186 (8-for-43), so it’s not like Joe Girardi has to use Yates as a situational reliever.

“We had seen him in the division but not a whole lot,” Rothschild said of what he knew of Yates, who pitched for the Rays in 2014 and 2015 which very different results. “You looked at the [2015] numbers and watched the tape to figure out last year as opposed to what he was capable of.”

After posting a 3.75 ERA in 37 games for the Rays in 2014, Yates’ ERA ballooned to 7.97 in 20 appearances last season. Following last season, Yates was sent from the Rays to the Indians for cash.

“His slider was not as effective,” Rothschild said. “It’s a good pitch for him. The fastball velocity plays where it should.”

One cautionary tale is that Chasen Shreve was very good for the first four months last season and fell apart in the final six weeks. The difference between Shreve and Yates is that Shreve had appeared in 15 big league games for the Braves before last season, when he worked 59. Yates had 57 big league appearances entering this year.

Carlos Beltran needed two hits for 2,500 in his career entering Wednesday night’s game and went 0-for-4. He would be the 99th player all-time, the 10th switch hitter and the fourth player born in Puerto Rico to reach 2,500.

Ronald Torreyes is listed as 5-foot-10 in the Yankees’ media guide. However, he is closer to 5-6. Still, Girardi said Wednesday that if he needed the utility infielder to play first base with Mark Teixeira sidelined, he would.

“I have never played first base, but I have practiced at first base with my dad in the offseason, took ground balls there, because you never know,” Torreyes said.